Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-08-06
MARK TW6lN'S EARLY LIFE.
Did "a Circus Ring Adventure Give Him
Pointer for "a Good story:

| my purpO>r at this moment to delve deeply
| into her mine of historic wealth or explore
eNtend,dly the st"rrhousa of olden recollec-
| tiouS.
/ The announcement recently that Mark
Twain had been selected t. perform the
solemn duties "f umpire at baseball game,
and the subsequent visit tu keokuk OF Mr.
and Mrs Webster, of the eastern publishing
firm with winch Mark is connected, forced on
my mind the fact that the ancient history of
| heoknk records among the names of its olden
| inhabitants that Of Samuel l.. Clemens who
ON beng born again to mingle in the modern
society ana fame Of these times, assumed the
| shortened Cogn"men Of Mark Twain Besides
this the mother of Mark an old lady beyond
| her three score years ana ten, cOntented and
! Jovlal, resides here now. an Older son and his
/ wife forming part Of her household She is
an interesting lux connecting the past with
| the present, retaining all her faculties to "A
remarkable degree.
When Marx lived here he was a printer,
an active knight Of the stick and rule In 1855
the local craft Of the city celebrated Franklins
| birthday, at which Mark Twain was present
When the printers here decided to celebrate
WashingtouS birthday this wear with a ball
and typeSetting contest he was invited to at
tend by the committee. who received the fol-
lowing reply in which he alludes TO the cele-
bratIOn Of the ancieuts:
HARTFORD. Conn, Jan. q, 1885,
Ny DEAR SIR-lt was 1866, il | remember rightly
and the occasion was not a typesetting contest
II was a struggle over n dinner table The dinner
table did not win. thank the union very much
for the compliment Of their invitation and |
should like to help at the present competition but
it wouldn't he any USE. couldn't get the prize,
unless t.n an hour loaded bourgeois might fetch
it. Truly yours. ). l.. CLEMENS
Tue readers of Twain's 'Ruughing Ii"
have been particularly amused ut the adv.n-
lures related ui himself, DIiendSrf anu Bal
lou, who lost themselves IN snOwStorm by
travelling u. "a circle during the mig ht finally
reformed. prayed. resigned themselves to fate
al.i n cruel heath in the pitilesSs DRIFTS, but
returned 70 their old habits lust "a soon as
they found they had been rousting for sew
eral hours, fUrlorn ami hopeless, within tif-
teen steps uf Il comfortable inn
Now, | don't pretend To say that Mark
manufactured tins story for the occasion: on
the other hand, must take it as an actual
occurrence. happening i'll Nevada Just about
as described. for has not Mark seriously in
formed us that Il have scarcely exaggerated
n detail Of this curious and absurd adventure.
1t occurred almost exactly as hnve stated
itn
Marks citizenship in keokuk, had he not
been so positive in his demands that we
should believe even the details Of his snow
storm story, would have caused q suspicion
to take possession Of my mind long since that
his story was really founded on a similar oc-
CurrenCe, not 50 hairbreadth in Its details or
tragic IN Its possibilities, which occurred at
Fort Madison, in this county, away back in
the '40S. George c. Dixon was an able Inv
yer Of that day, and, in connection with r.
:. BlennerhaSSett. a noted criminal lawyer
of st. Louis, said to have been related to tue
lrishman BlennerhaSsett whose name at
tached to the treaSOnable designs of Aaron
Burr, were employed for the settlers III fifty
or more ejectmen: suits growing out of the
old half breed litigatonS. They were guests
OF the Madison house, Fort Madison, where
these suits We're pending. Only about half
square away Jo. Schmeizle kept a restaurant
and pigeOuhole table Between the hotel
and this restaurant was an open space which
was used only for circus and menagerie pur-
poses, and there was always on the ground
regular circus ring or pathway, for the ele-
phant and horses tramped into the earth
Ii was a very dark night when
Blennerhassett, Dixon and a citizen
named Charley Hyde went 10 10 5 to play
a few games OF pigeonhole Amusements
in those days were rare in little western
towns, and time hung heavily, especially on
the hands of strangers, after the days bust |
ness was over. Detained at first by n rain, |
they became much interested in the game, |
and it was after midnight when they con
Cluded to return to the hotel Dixon, al |
III. A
other, was an excellent walker, and he took |
the lead, his companions following without |
Questioning where he led 1t seemed TO them |
long way to the botel, but nobody mur-
INJURED. and they marched on, tramp, tramp, |
tramp. in the thick darkness, The gray dawn |
of the morning began to streak the east, the |
cock had crowed for day, and this brought the |
landlord, ". {. Strip, now an old citizen of |
keokuk, from his bed, he being an early |
riser, and withal jolly joker even |
to this day. Walking out into the morning |
air, he eSpIei the three tired wanderers |
trudging wearily around the circus ring, |
Dixon still in advance, his short leg in the in
ner side of the ring, bobbing up and down as |
lie sturdily lei hIs companions. Stripe saw
his guests, called 10 th.'u with a morning sa- |
lutte and a suspicious Twinkle in his eye, and |
been marching around that circus ring all |
night, since they left the pigeonhoie table, !
to get half II square to the Madison house,
and were not there yet, though all the time |
they thought they were ON the way. Il have |
scarcely exaggerated detail Of this curious |
and absurd adventure. 1t occurred almost |
exactly rs havc stated it." according to tue |
traditions Of tie father /; and who is here to
dispute them! L. e. b.
We have CEASED 10 hate tue man vino prac-
tices on the cornet. We just pity him and his
neighburs n B-We are not one OF his
neighbors Lowell Citizen.
The man who will neglect his business as
pork butcher III order To learn To play the
banjo has a soul which was built by contract
and was rejected because il wasn't up to
specification. River Advance
There is one disagreeabe thing about a
trombone player-ani that is his playing.
There is also one very pleasant thing about
the same individual. Statistics show that the
trombone player doesn't live long
town Herald
Each pupil in arithmetic
Stepped To his place with footstep quick,
Twas plain, from signs and faces glum,
The hour Of reckoning had come.
Washington Critic
The archbishopo Of Cologne has excommuni-
Gated two rnen for duelmg. Good for Co
lOgne There's scents even in her bishop
Pittsburg Bulletin
The chinch bug eats the farmers grain,
The bee moth spoils his honey,
The bed bug fills him full of pain,
The humbug scoops his money.
= latonia Tex Argus.